Sunday, 29 November 2015

Project Evaluation

Overall I have found this project both challenging at times
yet also really rewarding. To begin with I was quite unsure how and where I felt
this project was going however the more research I collected and tasks we
completed the easier I found it to create and envision new ideas about where I felt
the project was going. In my opinion the turning point in my process of
collecting ideas came about when I began researching modern hairstyles with Elizabethan
features and I came across catwalk collections from a variety of designers and
their models appeared to have hairstyles that were heavily inspired by
Elizabethan styles. When finding these it allowed me to think of how I would
interpret Elizabethan hairstyles and another important part in the progression
of my ideas came when we began looking at bridal hairstyles and I came across
the waterfall braid. I thought this specific style of braid was beautiful and
loved how simple it was to create such a beautiful piece in someone’s hair. The
combination of these two factors allowed me to develop and produce a variety of
ideas that eventually turned into my final idea that I wanted to use for my
outcome. Once I had done this it was time to swap ideas with my partner and
begin our practice, it was really nice being assigned a partner as she was
someone I hadn’t really spoken to before but we found that we got on really
well and really well together. At first we both found each other’s designs
quite difficult however the more we practiced the easier we found it. I think
my partner execute my design really well and even though I would have liked it
slightly differently I still believe she did an amazing job. Even though I had
done plenty of practice and tried my best I was quite unhappy with how I executed
my partners design, as I know I could’ve done better as it had done during some
of our practices. I feel that I may have put myself under too much pressure on
the day and that if I had relaxed it may have gone better. However I know for
next time what I would do differently and how I can improve. All in all I have
loved the challenging aspects of this project and found it really interesting
to look at some of the historical aspects of hairstyles and how it has
influenced modern fashion trends.

Friday, 27 November 2015

Final Images and Evaluation - My Partner's Design and My Assessment

In general I found this creating and executing my partners design a lot more difficult than I had first anticipated. Her design was really beautiful and we both knew from the beginning that there was one aspect of her design that I would find really difficult to replicate, this was the roses that she wanted around her hairline. From our first practice session together we began trying out different ways to make these roses, using google and asking Lottie for her help and advice, Lottie’s advice was the best and most helpful and her process of making the roses is the one we chose to use and move forward with. The process involved taking two even segments of hair and coating them completely in hairspray, waiting for it to dry slightly and then slowly teasing a pair of straighteners over the two segments individually. This made the two segments extremely hard and stiff, yet I was still able to shape them into the shapes that I wanted. I rolled one up in a spiral shape and gripped these into place and then wrapped the other side in the opposite direction to the spiral and then gripped this firmly into place and set it using a lot of hairspray. Repeating this all along the hairline for each rose. During my practices I seemed to get better at this and found the outcome was better each time, however during the assessment for some reason I found it really difficult and struggles greatly in creating the roses. I think it may have been due to stress and worry, as I was rather stressed about this assessment piece. After spending a lot longer than I intended on the roses I decided it would be best if I left them to set and came back to them closer to the end, to make any finishing touches and hopefully fix them slightly. I then moved onto crimping my partner’s hair. In her design she wished for her hair to be really smooth from the roots until the top of her ears, where she wished for the crimping to start. I found the crimping part of this design really easy as I just needed to section the hair and crimp each segment. I was quite happy with the way I crimped her hair and how I managed to get the line going around her head quite even, I feel that this was the part I was proudest of. Overall I was left quite unimpressed with myself and the outcome I had created, as I knew I could do better and had done in my practices. Even though I knew I could do better and it wasn’t the best representative of my work, I felt the photographs didn’t come out too badly and I was pleased with hoe it looked on the images. I know that if I were to do this again I would try and not be as stressed, which may not be easy, however if I had been more relaxed I know it could’ve gone much better and I would’ve been happier with my outcome.

Friday, 20 November 2015

Final Images - My Design and My Partner's Assessment

Overall I was extremely happy with how my final design came out and was so happy with well my partner executed it, as I thought she did an amazing job. I feel like the finished look of the hairstyle turned out just as well as I had hoped and looks really beautiful when photographed. Even though I thought it was beautifully executed there were a few small changes that I thought could have been made or minor faults with how my partner executed the look. For example, the crimp was meant to go along the line of the braid however my partner didn’t manage to get it low enough down and some of the crimp went too far up and could be seen above the braid right at the very back. I feel as though this is the only major fault I had with the execution of my design and even my partner felt the same way. Other than that there was a minor change I might have made and that would’ve been to make the waterfall braid a bit larger and perhaps more defined. However I don’t think it was a major fault and I was still extremely happy with how well my partner handled the waterfall braid, as I know she found it quite difficult at first but the more she practiced the better she became and I couldn’t fault her resilience in trying to execute it to the standard that she did. Therefore I was extremely pleased with my designs outcome and my partner’s extreme hard work and determination as I feel she executed my design beautifully.

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Practice of my partners design:

Due to the difficulty of the roses in my partners design I
felt that I needed to practice it a few times to ensure that I can recreate it
successfully and that it looks as good as possible. I found the most effective
way of creating the roses was to use the method of using two separate pieces of
hair, hairspray and straighteners, then twisting the strands into place and
again setting it with more hairspray and leaving the pins in until it has gone
stiff. Here are the results of my practice.

So far this has been my most successful practice and I feel as though this is the best the roses have looked out of all of my practices. I feel like I have finally come to grips with this part of the design and the rest will hopefully fall into place, as I feel most confident with the crimping and styling off the rest of it. I hope that during the assessment practical it goes as well as it has during my practices and that I can create a successful and complete hairstyle to the standard my partner wishes for it to be.

Monday, 9 November 2015

Practice 2:

When practicing my partners design a second time around it
was much easier, as I knew how to create the roses in a way that worked well.
However I still need to practice further for it to be just as she wants it. I
also need to use much smaller hair grips, so they’re less visible and can slide
into the hair much easier. I was much more impressed with it this time as I had
practiced the roses myself before the lesson and then found it easier to apply
the style to my partner. I feel well prepared for the assessment and feel that I
will be able to create the style of hair that she wants.